General Manager Reggie Maldonado said the initial interisland shipment was due to leave Honolulu at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow for Kahului and Hilo. It will continue on to San Diego before returning to Honolulu.

The company's foray into interisland cargo shipping ends a monopoly that Young Brothers Ltd. had held for more than 50 years since statehood. Young Brothers was founded in 1900.

The state Public Utilities Commission issued an interim order in September over objections from Young Brothers that allows Pasha to operate interisland service every 14 days through a test period that ends Dec. 31, 2013.

Pasha Hawaii said its decision to see a PUC license to provide interisland service was based on its customers voicing their need to transport vehicles of all dimensions and oversized cargo in a fully-enclosed ship on a regular basis.

Roy Catalani, vice president of strategic planning and government affairs for Young Bros., said yesterday that the incumbent carrier is concerned that the PUC has allowed Pasha to "cherry-pick the market and operate with a lesser set of requirements than Young Bros., allowing Pasha to service only the most profitable ports and cargo."